Reef Discussion

[DavidS]

Hi All,

Apologies - mini-epic dream mode on (it's Friday, so ya know)

I've been debating going for a bigger tank - either 6x2x2 or 4x2x2 + a reasonable sized sump.
I haven't really made my mind up on size yet. I figure it's something that I'll have for a long time, and if it's too small, I'll only want to upgrade.

My plan of attack, given that I'm slightly impatient, and would at least want to get it wet sooner rather than later:

Get a tank + sump built to my requirements + pre-drilled as I really don't care do to this myself. Nothing complicated - just an outlet to feed the sump - but at least it can be placed relative to the sump size.

Build a cabinet: - something I can do with my old man. Thinking pretty standard cabinet under it, with a hood design that sits on the top to house the lighting given I rent, so I can't hang things from the roof.

Put it all together, and get a decent return pump for sump, so I have the very basics of getting water from top to bottom and back sorted. Look for a secondhand skimmer that will eventually be my emergency spare (I like redundancy).
Wet the tank, throw in some live rock, and a lot of base rock, and let that do it's thing for a couple of months. At least I can mess around with layout a bit more while this happens.

While tank cycles and live rock starts to become live, I can worry about trying to save up for lighting -ideally I'd like to use all LED, though depending on circumstances at the time, I may have a hodge podge of whatever secondhand gear I can salvage to get the tank lit up until I can afford to get the lighting I want.
Tank will have some light while it cycles, but just not a lot.

I don't mind actually letting the tank go for 3 months without putting much other than rock and some clean up crew in it.

Once the lighting is sorted, then I'll worry about putting stock in the tank, and will start to see how the tank really runs.

Eventually then, I can screw around with all the cool toys like dosing pumps and all the fun stuff that I otherwise have no idea about as yet, but will inevitably want to hook in one day.

Thoughts? And does anyone have any ideas what I should expect to pay to have a tank builder do something like the size I'm talking about?

 

[MagicJ]

Sounds like a plan David.;)

Can't help you much on the cost of a tank/sump as its been over 4 years since I bought my current one.

I like the size of a 4x2x2 - my reef tanks have always been this size and it gives you some room to move without being excessively expensive to setup and maintain. If ever I was to go larger I think it would be something like a 5x3x2 rather than a 6 footer.

If I could start again I would definitely consider a calfo style overflow (full length) like this:

The rest of your plan sounds good.

 

[DavidS]

time to research calfo style overflows ;)

 

[MagicJ]

You will find lots of info on them - basically they allow for surface skimming over a much wider area and don't take up much space inside the tank. They can also be mounted externally.

 

[DavidS]

Like what I'm reading so far.. do you think it's a major deal to get a builder to actually build in the overflow box on the inside and drill it all? Plumbing I can do. Electronics I can do. Working with acrylic and glass I'll pass on :p

 

[jashay]

any good tank maker should be able to drill holes and build in the overflow. doing it during the fab process is much easier than doing it later.

I reckon next tank I have will be alot bigger, but like a standard tank, no intergrated hood. they can look good but can cause probs with this sort of thing too!

 

[DavidS]

My idea for the hood was to have something that mere sits over it - something I can pick up and move easily - doesn't even need to be a full lid as such.. just needs to give me a way of mounting lights over the tank.

 

[MagicJ]

Building my new hood will be my next DIY project ;). I have the wood cut just need to find the time to put it together. Then I can finish off my lights. Then ...

 

[slin1977]

Let the fun begin.....

Words of wisdom..... you can always judge a mans wallet size, by the size of his tank.

Now hear this, four foot is big enough for any man.....;)Go hard, or go home as they say.....

 

[DavidS]

Let the fun begin.....

Words of wisdom..... you can always judge a mans wallet size, by the size of his tank.

Now hear this, four foot is big enough for any man.....;)Go hard, or go home as they say.....

On that basis, my nano is probably over compensating then :p
Not that that'll stop me ;)

 

[MTG]

personaly i light the slighly shallower tanks like 50-55cm tall ;) if be going a 3x2x2 or 4x2x2 goodluck with it mate

 

[jashay]

50-55cm isnt much shorter than a two footer.. 5-10cm difference.

if you can afford it, the old get as big as you can afford is the way to go

 

[MagicJ]

I know what Matt is talking about though - that 5-10cm can make a big difference with maintenance especially when the tank is on a stand.

 

[DavidS]

I was thinking one of those wavebox things would be really cool, and it's gonna have to have a hood over it, and I figure with the wave box I'll loose some actual water depth, and the hood will take out some visible depth, so I was worried about making it too shallow.

 

[rosechaser]

My few cents wort as a newbie.
1. The calflo style is great, although I would have it external as you get a shadow down the tank which IMO is a pit...plus is just neater I think.
2. When starting out the jump in costs from 4' to 6' is amazing, bigger wavemakers, bigger skimmers, bigger lights, more water quantity to change, more rock to buy...it really does all add up
3. The depth over 2' is a pain with lighting...much better IMO to go wider...2'6" if you can or more as you loose the look of the depth due to refraction. Also with the extra depth comes extra cost in lighting

 

[VaultBoy]

I agree with Sven on all points.

As the size of your tank increases its not just the purchase price that goes up.... the running and maintenance cost go up too.

Width is more important than depth. Its the extra width that gives you the wide open space look.

Coast to coast (calfo) overflows are great I have just startedd by sump up and now that the skimmer is drawing water from the surface of the DT the skimmate has become thicker and blacker.

Just food for thought.

 

[DavidS]

Pretty well decided now I'm going to go with 4x2x2 with a calfo overflow. Noted Sven's shadow issue about having it internally, but I think I may need to live with that. I can see benefits of putting the overflow on the back, but I'm scared of that being an additional point of failure - at least as far as leaks go and what not. I can think of creative ways of reducing shadow caused by it if it becomes a problem.

I reckon that size is the go - the budget is something that needs to be limited, and in reality, I loathe power bills, so I think this size will keep me more than adequately broke.

Started on asking around for pricing for the tank + sump with the overflow prebuilt and drilled into the tank. No grand plans on a sump design - just want something that can cope with the amount of water it'll need to hold, plus preferably a 4 section setup as I want to have a DSB.. and a fuge

 

[MTG]

i found found i can get away with very small hardware. my new light is a 2foot light, pumps are rather small, skimmers small, easy to heat easy to chill,
i found the 55cm tall tank is spot on i can reach the bottom everywhere in the tank what is what i planned rather then the standard 62cm, that 6-7cm makes a huge difference. all personal preference tho!

 

[DavidS]

Do any of the more southern folks here have any suggestions on where else is worth asking for tank quotes? Not sure who's good, and I'm figuring I probably need to be looking at options from Melbourne...

 

[Dynamic]

Why not just build it yourself dude? How hard could it be? I'll give you a hand with it. We can get some glass cut up and we put it together.